You remember TABOR, the Colorado state constitutional amendment restricting the growth of government spending. It's telling that even after the state budget grew by a hefty 4.4% this year the anti-TABOR voices lost none of their shrillness.
Today's Denver Post had a pair of point-counterpoint guest columns on the subject of TABOR reform. Between the two you could find out just about all you need to know on the subject.
In the decade since TABOR's passage in 1992, the size of state government has grown by a whopping 64 percent. Government is hardly withering away.
TABOR put Colorado's government on the nation's strictest diet. Between 1992 and 2004, we cut government 27 percent relative to our state's total economy.
Bridges' comment tells more than he wants, probably. In his mind it's not enough that government grows, it must maintain its status relative to the economy. If it were the private sector, we would all rejoice - just as we do when we spend less on groceries, for example. But a goverment that runs cheaper is a bad thing in itself, according to his way of thinking.
Bridges' logic further deteriorates later in his article:
Health care is a big concern for many of us. To provide a safety net for really poor kids, Washington provides $2 for every state dollar we invest. Last year, we barred new kids from joining the program.
So where does Johnny's mom go when he gets sick? The emergency room. And who pays? We all do.
As opposed to paying his bill through tax revenue, which of course comes from the tax fairy. To think this guy almost was a major party candidate for the US senate.
Posted by Walter at April 25, 2004 11:39 PMRutt Bridges wrote "Washington provides $2 for every state dollar we invest."
How can Washington provide any money that didn't come from us originally? Does this guy think that they [the feds] are doing us a favor by setting up this corrupted matching program, the more the state steals from us to pay for healthcare it somehow authorizes the federal government to steal more from us so that they can match the funds? This is a very ridiculous concept.
Posted by: severin at April 26, 2004 12:07 PMNo, that money comes from the tax fairy, too.
Perhaps he thinks that since Coloradoans don't pay as much in fed income tax it's OK because it only steals money from other states.
Posted by: Walter at April 26, 2004 01:41 PMWhich is cheaper in the long run? Spending tax money for preventive care, or spending tax money for emergency treatment when someone is in need of massive, costly, curative treatment for a deadly condition?
Posted by: Gary Farber at April 26, 2004 04:57 PM"Which is cheaper in the long run? Spending tax money for preventive care, or spending tax money for emergency treatment ...."
How about not spending tax money for either? Why should taxpayers be forced to subsidize health care for anyone for any reason? What difference does it make what kind of care is cheaper.
Posted by: severin at April 26, 2004 05:31 PMEventually someone does have to pay for picking the bodies up off the street.
Perhaps they could somehow be usefully sold at a profit, however. I'm sure the market, left to itself, holds the answer.
What's up with these crazy childhood immunization programs, anyway? Why should those be subsidized?
A little diptheria will do wonders as an incentive for turning this boondoogle over to private hands, where it belongs.
Posted by: Gary Farber at April 26, 2004 11:15 PMImmunization programs are relatively inexpensive and cost effective. They're the sort of thing that's well within the reach of charity and minor governmental subsidy.
Complete healthcare coverage for anyone who claims need is another matter. That requires massive redistribution of income.
At issue is the idea that each of us are legally required to pay for the well being of the next. Personally, I need to have my soon-to-be-born twins enrolled in private school. Surely you won't object to having government assist me in that manner? After all, sending them to public school isn't unlike having to depend on the free healthcare offered by the local indigent clinic.
Posted by: Walter at April 26, 2004 11:30 PMYour right Gary, if it weren’t for the government there would be dead rotting corpses everywhere and nobody willing to bury them. How could I have been so blind? Praise the government (our savior) for funding the removal of rotting corpses from the streets. I think because of your persuasive argument I will become a socialist because who wants dead bodies littering up the place? Not me that's for sure and if my mom was lying dead on the street I know now that instead of calling the funeral home and paying for the burial. I should call the government and let taxpayers pay for it. That really does make the most sense. Thanks for showing me the light, why do something I could do myself out of my own pocket when there is government and taxpayers around to pick up the bill? This socialist thing is sounding better and better all of the time. Maybe I will drop my insurance coverage now, because like a sucker I have been paying premiums when I could have pocketed that money and had taxpayers like you and Walter pick up the tab. Maybe you could help me get food stamps too, because like a damn fool I have been paying for my groceries up until now. I guess I should stop my 401k contributions as well, why worry about retirement? The government will take care of me. Damn now that I am seeing the $$ benefits of this socialist thing from my new bleeding heart socialist perspective instead of my former greedy capitalist perspective it is looking better and better. Letting tax payers pay my way will save me thousands of dollars a year. Walter quit being a sucker, let the goverment pay for your kids schooling. Just because Bush and Kerry went to private school, and sent their kids to private school, doesn't mean that they don't have the best intentions when giving YOUR kids a a "first class" government school education.
Posted by: severin at April 27, 2004 11:09 AMThank you for seeing things my way, Severin; very reasonable of you.
And, of course, I'm not a socialist; I lead the vanguard of the masses in calling for Marxist-Leninist-Maoist overthrow of the government, and a full Cultural Revolution! Down with the running dog puppet forces! Hail the people! Soon, the Revolution!
Just so we're, you know, clear.
(Rumor has it that there's something "in-between" these things, where, you know, most Americans are; I, of course, have shot everyone who attempts to spread such lies; oh, if you want a job, we're still hiring jack-booted thugs to steal money by force from upright citizens; we have a dental plan!)
It's always useful to have such a reasoned exchange of views.
Posted by: Gary Farber at April 27, 2004 07:35 PMWell at least we see eye to eye now and can both appreciate the wonderful things government uses our money to do for us. I might take your job offer, because being one of the police is the best job in a police state. They have the most freedom and that was my ultimate goal after all (when I was an anarchist-libertarian). Now that I have embraced big government socialism I realize that freedom for me is all I should care about, even if it is at the expense of others. The freedom to make the wrong life choices and have others pick up the tab, freedom for me as a cop to carry a firearm while I advocate the disarmament of citizens, etc. Now don’t get me wrong, now that I have turned socialist doesn’t mean I want everything socialized. Like most Americans I fall somewhere in between. I want to socialize the things that benefit me while opposing the socialization of the things that don’t benefit me.
Posted by: severin at April 28, 2004 12:46 PMIt's thanks to socialized punctuation that we have confiscated almost all of your commas. Thank you for contributing, comrade! You see how easy it is to get along with only what you need? Thanks to you, a poor deprived child in the inner city is able to make use of a serial comma for the very first time. Benefit to you: no ugly comma splices.
Everyone wins under socialized punctuation!
Posted by: Gary Farber at April 28, 2004 02:53 PM